State of the art report of selenium speciation in biological samples

Abstract

Selenium is an essential trace element for humans and animals. It plays a putative role in the prevention of cancer and other illnesses. The increasing use of selenium in food and fodder supplementation has resulted in a need for high-performance analytical methods allowing the characterisation of the marketed products. Reliable and validated analytical methods applied in this research field are urgently needed. This review presents the state-of-the-art of systematic developments concerning different aspects of qualitative and quantitative selenium speciation analyses in biological samples.

Low volume microwave digestion and direct determination of selenium in biological samples by hydride generation-atomic fluorescence spectrometry

“…Besides, Se has been found to reduce the toxicity of some metals, such as lead [3] and mercury [4], and to decrease the assimilation of the latter by aquatic organisms [5]. However, at a concentration higher than 1-5 mg kg −1 , it can cause toxic effects [6,7]. Some severe toxic effects were observed among fish living in high Se containing water ponds [8].…”

Specific determination of selenoaminoacids in whole milk by 2D size-exclusion-ion-paring reversed phase high-performance liquid chromatography–inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (HPLC–ICP MS)

“…60% of the total selenium. The rest is present in the form of several species as reviewed by Polatajko et al [20]. …”

Speciation of trace element compounds in samples of biota from marine ecosystems

“…This approach is used to improve resolution in the separation of species and to remove matrix components that could affect analyte detection . This technique has been widely used in the speciation of selenium bound to macromolecules, but its application to selenoproteins has been limited because it lacks sensitivity, mostly because of the large dilution factor (Połatajko et al, 2006). Sizeexclusion chromatography is often chosen in preference to other LC techniques: this is due to the high tolerance to the matrix and the good compatibility of the mobile phase with Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), the detection system most often used with SEC .…”